Keynote 6.2 update: Applescript not dead – in Pro Apps next please

Most post-production professionals don’t use application scripting. Scripting is very useful if third party apps want to control NLEs to solve workflow problems.

Apple updated Keynote, their presentation application yesterday. One of the many features is Applescript improvements.

Now you can use an Applescript or an external application to do things like this:

set the transition settings of the current slide to {transition effect:confetti, transition duration:2.0, transition delay:0, automatic transition:false}

Imagine using this kind of scripting in iMovie or Final Cut Pro X.

Ad spots or TV series could be given ‘themes’ – which could include titles, bumpers and lower thirds. Applescript can make a new presentation using a theme, or have the current design changed by applying a different theme:

make new document with properties {document theme:theme “Gradient”, document width:1920, document height:1080}

set the document theme of the front document to theme “White”

You can also use Applescript in Keynote for versioning:

tell the front document to set skipped of (every slide whose contents of its default title item contains “CLASSIFIED:”) to true

…a script that sets the presentation not to show any slide that contains the word ‘CLASSIFIED’ in the title.

The new Applescript elements allow scripts or external apps to create and specify settings for text, graphics, tables abd graphs.

If you want to know more about what Keynote’s new Applescript features, download the update and then drag the new version onto the AppleScript Editor application (in the Utilities folder).

Good news for those worried that Apple aren’t interested in Applescript any more – and possibly for those who want to have more control over Apple’s Pro Apps.